I woke up early, packed my travel gear and loaded up the van. I’m not used to having so much space in a car. When I got into Atlanta’s airport and picked up my car the rental agency informed me they no longer had economy cars available, he said I was going to be upgraded.
At the news of my upgrade my mind immediately wandered to the possibilities of a nice convertible or a cool SUV. No such luck. When I asked what kind of car I was getting at the terminal check out the clerk pointed to a laminated illustration on the counter. His finger brushed a Mustang and a Jeep Cherokee to land on a Dodge Grand Caravan family van. I was, needless to say, a little disappointed.Â
From the airport I took a mini bus to the car lot and found my van. It was large, green and without plates. I thought it strange that my car didn’t have plates but I tried to drive it away anyway. As I pulled through the gate for the last check out my initial suspicions were confirmed and the lady asked me to pull back into the car lot and get another car.
For a second I thought I might get a Roadster but alas I left with not a green family van but a gold one. Once on the highway and cruising towards my first intermediate stop I started to like my rental. It had a good radio, cruise control and a large dashboard where I could place my camera and film or photograph the road ahead of me.
My plan was to leave early the next morning. Stop by Waffle House, have a cup of coffee and then drive to Asheville, North Carolina, first then Knoxville and finally Chattanooga, Tennessee. Well somewhere between taking photos of a red truck, a barber shop and a street corner I missed the turn to East 20 and founnd myself well on my way to Chattanooga before I realized my mistake.
Only a couple of hours into my adventure I was already lost and making mistakes. But I did have a good cup of coffee at the Waffle House.
More photos at Cybershots.
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